Saturday, 15 September 2012

Glasgow

I had a very brief trip to Glasgow last weekend. Just three nights. But definitely worthwhile.

My main reason for going was to give a little talk on the history of Lager. A topic that inexplicably has become very dear to me. Perhaps because Lager has been almost totally ignored by British beer writers (Martyn Cornell excepted). I'm very glad I gave the talk. If only because it's given me a much better sense of Lager's timeline and route to domination.

The talk was part if Glasgow beer week and was held in one of city's three breweries, WEST. Somewhere I'd never been before. It's a bit outsuide the centre and I'm a lazy git. After I'd finished spouting, there was a discussion between the audience and myself and the two other panel members, Harvey Milne, retired brewer, and Ken Duncan brewer at Inveralmond in Perth.

As Harvey worked at both the Alloa Brewery (making Skol) and Benskins, I was delighted to have a chance to ask him some questions. Retired brewers area wonderful resource for everyday brewing practices. They really should be used more.

Of course, I couldn't go to Glasgow and not visit the Scottish Brewing Archive. It's a fantstic resource. I only wish I could get there more often. I spent pretty much the whole day there, but left feeling that I should have done more. Though I still managed to take more than 1,400 photos. Or about one every 15 seconds. I think it's a new record for me.

I've got lots of groovy stuff. Drybrough brewing logs from 1906 to 1970. Something similar for Maclay, plus ones covering Robert Younger's last half dozen years. Enough to keep my Scottish and English beer comparisons fed for a few decades.

I didn't really get to that many pubs. Apart from a Saturday evening pub crawl with Barm. unfortuantely I can't remember the names of them. There were some crackers, though. Just my sort of old-fashioned boozers.

I had a Scottish breakfast in Wetherspoons. Good value at under three quid, though I was unsure what some bits were.

It would be nice to get back to Glasgow soon. But with my busy schedule, I'm not sure when I'll have the chance.